Weightless
by jngsjng
Summary: I like to go with the flow and see where life takes me. In the world of Mafia, however, I've learned that sometimes things lead to a dead end. As in, you're dead. The end. It's great—well, at least I have a hobby.


**Note from the Author:**

Hello, I'm new.

* * *

"Kozato-kun and… Shitto… P?"

As soon as they step into class, all kinds of sirens go off in my head. The two students standing at the front of the room are new transfers to Namimori Middle—two of seven, from what I've heard—and based on appearances, I wouldn't say they look suspicious at all—save for, perhaps, the girl's blonde hair, tinted spectacles, yellow gloves, and bright pink bodysuit with a fur-lined hood.

"My name is Shitt P!" she exclaims, stepping forward with her head held high and hands resting on her hips. "Please call me Shittopi-chan!"

What a _fascinating_ individual.

A gasp is heard from somewhere in the back, and the sharp intake of air is enough to snap everyone out of their initial shock. All of a sudden, whispers erupt throughout the room, with voices only growing louder as the blonde launches into an explanation of her hobbies and favorite food.

Someone sighs from beside me. "I was hoping the new students would be a little more mature than the rest of the people here," Hana Kurokawa, one of my best friends, drawls. "But this is just ridiculous."

I bite back a laugh, but a snort still manages to escape my lips. Hana looks up and gives me a pointed stare, the corners of her lips curling down. "Don't tell me you'll be adopting the new batch of weirdos again."

"What are you talking about?" I question, blinking innocently.

"Don't give me that," Hana sighs, rolling her eyes. "If it wasn't for the smoking idiot practically hanging off Sawada's arm, I would've thought you were second-in-command of whatever cult the kid started. I wouldn't be surprised if you're the only one from that bunch with a brain, after all."

I shrug, but don't reply. "Cult" might be over-exaggerating it a bit, but she isn't far from the truth. Ever since Gokudera Hayato transferred into our class from Italy a few months earlier, quite a few strange happenings have occurred around Namimori, and every single one of them seems to revolve around a certain spiky-haired brunette. He had once been the loser of the school—no friends, no confidence, no resolve—but nowadays he's constantly surrounded by the most unusual mix of characters, of which include the aforementioned half-Italian heartthrob and the equally loved baseball team captain, Yamamoto Takeshi.

And yeah, I suppose there's me, too.

I prop my cheek on my fist and spare a glance at the brunette sitting a few seats away. His eyes are wide and his mouth is hanging open—an expression identical to the one on almost every other face in the room. If anyone asked me a few months ago what I thought of him, I would have given a polite answer, something like, "Sorry, but I don't know him very well," though nicknames like "No-good Tsuna" might pop up in my head, followed by a twinge of guilt. And then the conversation would end, because I didn't know him, and didn't really have anything to say.

Things are different now. "No-good Tsuna" has been replaced by the title of "Vongola Decimo," and if anyone asks me that same question today, I still wouldn't feel obligated to give them an answer, though for entirely different reasons. "Get to know him yourself," I would say, because it's true. Tsuna is precious to me, to all of us, and why or how—well, something like that can't be explained in words. He certainly has a way with people; they just have to experience what that means themselves.

I feel a smile tug at my lips. Making people smile—Tsuna has a way of doing that, too.

Tearing my gaze away from the future mafia boss, I turn my attention back to the eccentric girl at the front of the room. She finishes her introduction and spins to the side, causing our teacher to sigh and step away as he hides his face in his hands.

"Alright then," he grumbles. "Kozato-kun, please step forward."

I notice the boy move inconspicuously from the corner of my eye. Unlike his companion, he's dressed in normal clothes—a tee shirt, black jacket, and black jeans—but his face is covered in bandages, and by the familiar way he hangs his head and hunches over with his hands shoved into his pockets, it isn't hard to guess who he reminds me of.

"He's the type who'd get bullied easily," Hana murmurs, leaning over her table and mimicking my position. "Kind of like…" She doesn't finish her sentence, but for a split second, her eyes flash to the back of Tsuna's head.

I hum to myself in agreement before my eyes find their way back over to the redhead. The bandages that cover his nose and cheeks make him appear more boyish than anything else, and his unkempt hair—another trait reminiscent to Tsuna, though his is wavier than it is spiky—sweeps just above his eyes.

His eyes.

They're red, like his hair, and despite the bored, almost sad expression on his face, they shine with something familiar, though whatever it is, it's something that I can't seem to place. Suddenly, his gaze flickers over to meet my own, and my own eyes widen in awe. His pupils, I notice even from where I'm sitting, take the shape of the four pointers of a compass. Less than two seconds pass and he looks away, but I can't seem to do the same, and it isn't until I feel a nudge at my side do I realize I'm blatantly staring.

"Close your mouth," Hana smirks, and my lips twitch into a small grin.

Before I can retort properly, our teacher lets out another exasperated sigh. "Kozato-kun, will you please speak up?"

The class falls quiet as the boy shuffles his feet, and at that moment, I can understand why he would be intimidated by the silence. He mumbles something under his breath, but seeing no one react, he sighs and finally lifts his head.

He catches my eye again. I blink, and he looks a bit surprised, but doesn't look away so quickly this time. With a slightly more audible voice and his gaze still locked on mine, he says softly, "Enma. My name is Kozato Enma."

He looks away again.

"I hope they don't sit anywhere near us," Hana mumbles.

"Thank you, Kozato-kun. Now, then, why don't you two take a seat in front of Kurokawa and Nagasuki over there?"

My head immediately snaps towards Hana and I grin widely, barely forcing down the laugh bubbling in my throat. Her eye twitches violently as she lets out a defeated sigh, and if the irony of the situation hadn't been so amusing, I might have felt a little bad for her.

"You're bad luck," she groans, leaning back against her chair and crossing her arms.

I lazily stick my tongue out at her before facing forward. Shitt P. is already seated and talking up a storm to my best friend—who has given up and resigned to covering her face with her hair—while the redheaded boy pulls his chair back and slumps down in front of me. For a second I wonder if I should talk to him, but when the whispers start up again and he begins to slide lower and lower into his seat, all doubts escape me.

"Hello," I greet politely, just loud enough for him to hear.

He stills, and slowly—very slowly—he turns his head, glancing at me from over his shoulder. His eyes meet mine for the third time, and I blink again to keep myself from staring.

"I'm Nagasuki Haruka," I tell him with a grin. "Nice to meet you, Kozato-kun."

In all honesty, I don't really expect a response—maybe a nod or a strained smile, at most. That's probably why my grin eases into a pleased smile when I hear his voice stutter out a reply.

"Hello, Nagasuki-san… it's… nice to meet you, too."

* * *

**Note from the Author:**

You know how some directors and actors like to create back stories for their characters to better understand them, even if said stories aren't released to the fans? Because this story starts with the Inheritance Arc., I decided to do that with Haruka before even typing out the first chapter. As it goes, she's been with Tsuna and company since what would have been the Daily Life Arc., which is why I didn't want to start the story from the very beginning of the series—she certainly played her part in the back story I created for her, but because I've always planned to include Enma, I didn't think it was worth it going through roughly two hundred episodes and chapters of plot just to get to this point. With that said, I'd like to ask: would you rather I reveal her background, or should I not release it at all? I'm thinking of posting it to another story and condensing her adventures with everyone into a series of one-shots. I'll do my best to make this an independent story, of course, but despite just doing this for fun and all, I've grown really attached to the character, and I hope all of you like her, too.

In any case, thank you for reading! Please feel free to review and let me know what you think.


End file.
